Friday, January 27, 2012

Years of Service Appreciated

This coming Tuesday will be the last day for our Head Custodian Mr. Davis. Mr. Davis joined WCPSS 6 years ago at Fuquay Elementary. When Banks Road Elementary opened Mr. Davis took the opportunity to work at a new school. He unpacked many boxes, set up all of the classroom furniture and completed numerous other tasks in order to prepare the building to receive students on the first day of school. Mr. Davis was instrumental to the successful opening of BRES in 2009.

As a member of the school community Mr. Davis is always warm, welcoming and willing. Kindness can be seen in all he does. His interactions with staff members and students are always positive. There isn't a task that he hasn't done or won't do to ensure our school is safe and orderly!

The BRES family knows that Mr. Davis has been looking forward to this day for a long time, but we know we are losing a great staff member and friend! If you are on campus please take a moment to find Mr. Davis and thank him for his service. Thank you Mr. Davis!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

January Updates

The end of the month is approaching and I want to share a few updates with you. This week we welcomed Track 4 back to school. We hope you enjoyed your break and are ready to get back into learning routines. Track 3 tracked out and we wish you rest, safe travels and continued learning over your time off.

This week we continued to showcase the wonderful learning and teaching process, our beautiful campus and our welcoming climate by giving tours both in the morning and in the evening. We have had great feedback from prospective parents about our school. I am proud to share the many outstanding learning opportunities that we are able to offer our students with newcomers in the community.

Additionally, our 3rd-5th graders participated in the district Benchmark assessment this week. The assessment will give teachers valuable information to consider as a grade level and in individual classrooms for instruction.

We will close out January with our second Schoolwide Title I planning meeting on Monday the 30th. Our Transition Team will meet for a half day to continue to plan for schoolwide implementation in the 2012-2013 school year. We are excited about the progress we are making in planning for the new school year.

In looking ahead to February, we have several important events coming up:
Book Fair (February 1st-16th), Moonlight Reading Family Night (February 9th from 5:30-8:00), the PTA Board meeting (February 14th at 6:30) and our first Early Release Day (February 17th: dismissal at 1:15) of the new year.

We continue to blaze trails here at BRES as we wrap up January! :) Mrs. Graf

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Round 1 of School Choice Begins Today and More

Happy Tuesday! Yesterday we observed the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. I hope that you were able to celebrate the holiday in your own way. Many classrooms discussed the work of Dr. King last week. Students were able to communicate how Dr. King's vision for the human race impacts our lives today.

Today marks the beginning of Round 1 of School Choice with the new school assignment plan. The first round of the choice selection period runs until Friday, Feb. 24. During that time, if you are new or returning to the school system, the parent of a rising kindergartner, or a parent who wants to change schools for next year, you may log onto the student assignment website, assignment.wcpss.net, investigate your options and make your choices. If you have any questions about this, please contact the school. We would be more than happy to help you.

Our General PTA Meeting on the 10th was a great success. Attendance was great and we were able to move forward with important budget items such as the Shade Structure for the 3-5 playground. It was wonderful to see both teacher and parent participation at the meeting. A big thank you goes out to all of those who came out to the meeting.

Our first community outreach was a great success! BRES partnered with the Kraft YMCA to collect gently used books to distribute to students and families in a local neighborhood. Several BRES staff members along with Y representatives traveled out the neighborhood, set up shop in the office and distributed books to children of all ages. Together we gave away over 500 books from board books to toddlers to chapter books for primary grade student and novels to middle school students. We also shared comprehension materials to the families to support the use of reading strategies when reading at home. We made this information available in Spanish so that all families could access the information. The students and families were very appreciative. It was a wonderful way to support our local community and impact student achievement.

It's been a busy month thus far at BRES! I look forward to sharing more about the wonderful things we are doing here at school as we continue to blaze down the trail of success!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope that you were able to enjoy time with friends and family, travel, cook and eat special family meals or celebrate the holidays with your own traditions over the past week. There is something special about beginning a new year. Here at Banks Road Elementary we are starting the new year by welcoming back students on Tracks 1-3 and our teachers today. Students were smiling and excited to be back at school as I opened doors this morning at carpool. There was a good deal of chitter-chatter about travels and fun times over the holidays between students as they headed down the hall. Staff members were sharing photos, videos and stories about time spent with family today as well.

January brings about a busy month at BRES. This month we will host the General PTA Meeting on January 10th. This is a great time to hear about the support the PTA is providing to BRES along with an opportunity for you to join the PTA if you haven't already done so.

On the 12th we will be doing outreach to a local neighborhood. We have have partnered with the Kraft YMCA to collect books and distribute them to students and families. Our staff and students collected over 200 books for distribution. We are excited to be able to share the love of literacy and the importance of reading out in the community.

Our Title I team will host a Resource Fair Night for Title I students and their families on January 17th. This session will be offered in Spanish. Information about the school assignment choice process and programs offered to Hispanic Families and students in Wake County will also be shared.

The 17th also marks the first day of Round 1 to exercise School Choice. If you have any questions about how to access information or need support please call or come into the school and we will be able to assist you.

On January 30th the School Wide Title I Transition Team will meet again to continue our planning for the 2012-2013 school year.

I hope this month brings many wonderful things to you as begin the New Year. Here at BRES we will continue to blaze down the trail to success!